From Emmy-Winning Cinematographer To Oscar-Winning Producers. KVIFF Welcomes Leading Film Industry Professionals

In addition to an exclusive conversation with David Chase, the Industry Days program lineup at the Kaiserbad will offer a deep insight into the behind-the-scenes of global production and casting. Among the guests who will share their experience from July 5 to 8 are Succession director and cinematographer Andrij Parekh, Mollye Asher and Greg Shapiro, the recognized producers of the Oscar-winning films Nomadland and The Hurt Locker, respectively, and industry legend Debbie McWilliams, a casting director who has spent decades casting James Bond films. Another key theme of this year's edition will be technological transformation and storytelling in the era of artificial intelligence.

Standing behind the hit series Succession is Andrij Parekh, a graduate of Prague's FAMU and one of the most respected cinematographers and directors working today, who earned an Emmy Award for directing Hunting, an episode of the successful series. Also accepting the invitation is Sharon Horgan, the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated actress, screenwriter, and producer responsible for such award-winning titles as Bad Sisters, Catastrophe, and Divorce. These two filmmakers will appear together on Wednesday, July 8, at the session titled The Cinematic Series: Storytelling in the Age of Streaming, which follows right after the discussion with the creator of The Sopranos.

Polish director Jan Holoubek, who filmed the successful Netflix series Heweliusz about the tragic sinking of the eponymous ferry in the 1990s, will appear on Wednesday, July 8, as part of a discussion titled Marketing Starts in Development: How Great Series Build Their Audience Before They Exist.

The festival’s Industry Program also features an exceptionally strong lineup of world-class producers responsible for some of the most notable productions in recent years.

These include Ben Jackson and Katie Sinclair of Riff Raff Entertainment, a production company founded by actor Jude Law. The two producers have brought to life the series Black Rabbit and the crime thriller The Order, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024 and will be screened this year in Karlovy Vary. On Tuesday, July 7, both guests will take part in a Cinematic Focus discussion panel titled Production Company Spotlight: Riff Raff Entertainment.

Also on Tuesday, July 7, three top names associated with Oscar-winning films will appear at a discussion titled Curating Projects and Building a Producing Identity. Sharing their experiences with audiences are Mollye Asher, producer of Chloé Zhao’s award-winning films Nomadland and The Rider and Greg Shapiro, who produced the war drama The Hurt Locker and the science-fiction film Voyagers.

Mollye Asher is coming to Karlovy Vary as part of a prestigious Film Independent workshop organized for Czech and Slovak Producers. In addition, on Monday, July 6, she will appear with Mathias Noschis, strategist for the Alphapanda agency, as part of a discussion panel titled Audience First: Rethinking Film Marketing Before Distribution.

On Monday, July 6, experienced producer of feature films (Suspiria) and top-notch documentaries (Sea of Shadows and the Oscar-nominated The Ivory Game) Michael Frenschkowski will be one of the main speakers of the Cinematic Focus block. In his keynote speech titled Reinventing Yourself as Everything Changes, he will reflect on his own creative path in a dynamically changing cinema landscape.

A co-founder of the Fabula production company, Juan de Dios Larraín is one of the leading producers of Spanish-language cinema. His impressive portfolio includes the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman, the award-winning The Eternal Memory, and two films – Spencer and Maria – on which he collaborated with his brother Pablo. On Monday, July 6, he and curator Steffen Kottkamp will present their new projects aimed at offering producers and other filmmakers alternative distribution paths. Their panel discussion is titled The Future of Film Distribution Is Already Here: Same Problem – Opposite Directions.

Cecilia Shen, alumna of the global Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2026 and CEO of the Utopai AI studio in Silicon Valley, will present her vision of the technological future of film and television production as part of a block titled The Next Studio: Building Stories in the Age of AI. Shen founded Utopai Studios, an innovative AI production company working with its own artificial intelligence models, after her departure from Google X labs. Today, the company is valued at an estimated $1 billion dollars. Utopai has already produced the two-part historical epic Cortés and is currently preparing, among other things, an animated series with NBA stars James Harden and Carmelo Anthony.

Artificial intelligence will also be the subject of the panel discussion Production Value Reimagined: How Technology Is Expanding What Producers Can Achieve. The discussion is directly followed by an intensive hands-on workshop organized in cooperation with Plot Next that will provide an in-depth introduction to innovative AI tools. All three events are held on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 8, as part of Screen Focus Sessions, which is organized in collaboration with the VOD platform Oneplay.

Several special panels and KVIFF Talks will also present trendsetters from other film professions. Members of the public and industry insiders alike can look forward to a meeting with leading British casting director Debbie McWilliams, who has cast every James Bond film since 1981’s For Your Eyes Only and who also worked on the cult comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Her KVIFF Talk will take place on Friday, July 10, in the Festival Lounge at the Hotel Thermal.

The subject of casting will be discussed at two talks organized on Thursday, July 9, by the International Casting Directors Association on the Film Industry Workshop Stage in the Kaiserbad. Actress Aňa Geislerová, among others, will discuss the reputation of actors from Central and Eastern Europe. Nancy Bishop, casting director for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and the recently completed Kristallnacht, starring Clive Owen and Mélanie Laurent, will be part of a panel tackling the complex process of creating a perfect cast.

Unless noted otherwise, all events take place on the Film Industry Main Stage in the Kaiserbad. You can find the full program of KVIFF Industry Days on the festival’s official website. Industry Days are supported by the PPF Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.